Written Answers Friday 14 December 2007

Scottish Executive

Health

Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what its response is to any concerns that the recommendations of the National Resource Allocation Committee do not recognise sufficiently the extra costs of providing health services in remote and rural areas.

Nicola Sturgeon: I am currently considering the NHSScotland Resource Allocation Committee’s (NRAC) report and the views submitted to me by the Health and Sport Committee and by health boards. I have not yet made a decision on how to take NRAC’s recommendations forward.

  However, I am aware that there are concerns about the costs of providing health services in remote and rural areas and I will be closely considering these representations before reaching a decision.

Hepatitis

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to review the hepatitis B immunisation policy.

Shona Robison: As with all immunisation policy, the Scottish Government position on hepatitis B immunisation is informed by advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). The JCVI is an independent committee of experts whose role is to provide advice to UK health ministers on immunisation and vaccination.

  Currently, hepatitis B immunisation policy is selective rather than universal. Hepatitis B vaccine is offered to individuals at increased risk of exposure to the virus or complications of the disease. However, the JCVI are keeping this position under review and will consider all new evidence as it emerges.

Housing

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to address housing shortages in rural areas.

Stewart Maxwell: The Scottish Government recognises that in recent years there has been an undersupply of housing across Scotland, in many rural areas as well as pressured urban settlements, and is committed to increasing housing supply significantly.

  Our consultation Firm Foundations: The Future of Housing in Scotland can be accessed online at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2007/10/30153156/0 or in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 43970). It invites comments on a proposed aim of increasing house building to 35,000 new homes each year by the middle of the next decade across rural and urban areas.

  We are also taking action now to try to overcome the obstacles, such as land supply and planning issues, which stand in the way of new development in rural areas, through the work of the Housing Supply Task Force. The task force has identified rural housing supply as an early priority and met to discuss rural housing supply on 27 November. Further information about the task force can be found online at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Housing/Housing/housing-supply-task-force.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, whether a council that does not freeze council tax will retain all efficiency savings, have a single outcome agreement and have the same ring fencing arrangement as other local authorities.

John Swinney: Under the terms of the package of measures provided by the Scottish Government it is expected that all councils will freeze their council tax at 2007-08 levels. This includes an additional £70 million for implementing a council tax freeze. If it is clear that any council does not accept all parts of the package, then it will not receive all of the benefits on offer.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, whether it is a strategic objective in its own right for the share of Scottish spending going to local government to grow year-on-year or whether budgets for any sector should be assessed on a needs basis, taking account of health and tertiary education spending in particular.

John Swinney: Our strategic objectives and spending plans are set out in Scottish Budget: Spending Review 2007 and make full use of the resources currently available to the Scottish Government. The government has decided as part of the Spending Review to reverse the long years of decline in the share of public funding allocated to local authorities that was a hallmark of the previous administration.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, what the specific and full range of measures will be to reduce bureaucracy; how the reduction in bureaucracy will be measured; by whom it will be measured and at what time intervals, and how it will be reported to the Parliament.

John Swinney: The concordat sets out a new relationship between the Scottish Government and local government. As part of the partnership, the concordat has provided for a group which will oversee the process towards implementation of the single Outcome Agreements. This group, which has been established and includes representation from COSLA, SOLACE, and Audit Scotland, will consider this matter in due course.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, how many fewer civil servants and local government officers will be needed as a result of planned reductions in bureaucracy.

John Swinney: The Scottish Government wants to achieve a simpler, more effective public sector for Scotland, which is good for Scotland’s competitiveness and overall economic performance. There will be no compulsory redundancies as a result of structural changes proposed.

  The Scottish Government does not set staffing targets across the public sector and the concordat does not contain targets for reductions in staff numbers either in the Scottish Government or local authorities. In relation to local government staff, the National Performance Framework includes a National Target of improving public sector efficiency through the generation of 2% cash releasing efficiency savings per annum. Under the terms of the concordat between Scottish Government and local government, local government will be expected to generate these efficiency savings in the same way as will apply to all parts of the public sector. However, under the concordat, local authorities will be allowed to retain all of these savings, to re-deploy against on-going pressures and address local priorities. It will be for local authorities to determine for themselves how these savings should be realised.

  On Scottish Government civil servants, I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-4331 on 5 October 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, whether it believes that current local government boundaries are optimal for the efficient and effective delivery of all current local government functions.

John Swinney: The concordat with COSLA contains a commitment that the Scottish Government will not undertake structural reform of local government during the term of this Parliament. We recognise that there may be occasions where minor boundary adjustments may be necessary, for example to address an anomaly that would arise where an existing boundary runs through a dwelling house. Recommendations on minor adjustments of this sort are matters for the independent Local Government Boundary Commission within the terms of the direction set for it. It would not be appropriate for Scottish ministers to comment in advance on such adjustments nor otherwise to influence what recommendations the commission may make.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, whether a baseline of service delivery will be set and how progress will be measured and monitored.

John Swinney: The concordat sets out a new relationship between the Scottish Government and local government. The purpose of the concordat is to provide a mature agreement on the development and enhancement of service delivery in Scotland.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, whether each local authority will have a single outcome agreement (SOA) which covers all the indicators in Annex A to the concordat and what the earliest and latest date is on which each SOA is to be agreed.

John Swinney: Each local authority will have a single outcome agreement that relates to all of the indicators in Annex A to the concordat where appropriate for each local authority.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, whether any public consultation will be required locally on emerging indicators and targets.

John Swinney: The concordat sets out a new relationship between the Scottish Government and local government.

  Section 13 of the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003, supported by statutory guidance, already places a duty on councils to report to the public on the performance of their functions. Public consultation on these issues is a matter for local authorities.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA and with reference to the single outcome agreements, what role the Scottish Government envisages for best value.

John Swinney: The best value principles for local authorities to secure continuous improvement in performance and in public reporting will continue to be a key factor in ensuring local authorities have due regard to economy, efficiency and effectiveness. The best value principles fully compliment and support the implementation and roll-out of the single outcome agreements.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, how progress on a single outcome agreement will be reported locally.

John Swinney: The concordat sets out a new relationship between the Scottish Government and local government.

  Section 13 of the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003, supported by statutory guidance, already places a duty on councils to report to the public on the performance of their functions.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, how councils’ responsibilities for best value will fit with the process of agreeing single outcome agreements.

John Swinney: The best value principles for local authorities to secure continuous improvement in performance and in public reporting will continue to be a key factor in ensuring local authorities have due regard to economy, efficiency and effectiveness. The best value principles fully compliment and support the implementation and roll-out of the single outcome agreements.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, by what date the new performance reporting system will replace existing systems.

John Swinney: The Government is working to implement single outcome agreements by 1 April 2008.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, when in 2008-09 the procedure for each local authority to report on plans will commence.

John Swinney: The procedure will commence in 2008-09.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, whether it will issue guidance on the preparation and reporting of single outcome agreements.

John Swinney: The concordat sets out a new relationship between the Scottish Government and local government. As part of the partnership, the concordat has provided for a group which will oversee the process towards implementation of the single outcome agreements. Ministers and the COSLA Presidential Team will monitor progress on this question.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, whether it plans to set any timescales for local authorities to meet in full the indicators and targets set out in their single outcome agreements.

John Swinney: Single outcome agreements will set out how individual local authorities will contribute to meeting the indicators and targets. Relevant timescales will be considered.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, how often progress against the indicators and targets will be measured and who will measure such progress.

John Swinney: Local authorities will be required to report to the government on progress in relation to indicators and targets as part of a single outcome agreement on an annual basis.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, what sanctions the Scottish Government will have if progress on single outcome agreements is less than that agreed or expected.

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, what powers it has to act when any local authority consistently fails to meet its single outcome agreement.

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, whether all indicators within the single outcome agreements will have to be met in full or as a proportion, and how will this be decided, made explicit and reported on.

John Swinney: The concordat makes clear that local authorities will be expected to take responsibility for their own decisions and to be answerable for these. It also states that COSLA and the Scottish Government will put in place arrangements to oversee and monitor the new partnership and, as part of this, to assess how each side is fulfilling the commitments made in the outcome agreements. These arrangements will be put in place in due course.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, whether targets associated with currently ring-fenced funds will still need to be met after these funds are no longer ring-fenced.

John Swinney: Once the current ring-fenced funding has been absorbed into the local government finance settlements for 2008-11 local authorities will be expected to deliver on the agreed specified set of national and local commitments as set out in the joint concordat and in individual single outcome agreements.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, what information it will provide to the Parliament in order to allow it to monitor the deployment and effectiveness of funds which are currently visible and monitored, once such funds merge into the revenue or capital block grants for local government.

John Swinney: Once the current ring-fenced grants have been absorbed into the local government finance settlements it will not be possible to monitor these individual funding streams. Local authorities will be expected to deliver on the agreed set of national outcomes underpinned by agreed national indicators and the specified set of commitments as included in the joint Scottish Government/COSLA concordat.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, what guarantees it can give that funding intended to support particular client groups or policy in particular areas of activity will now reach groups or policy areas when ring-fenced funding ends.

John Swinney: Under the proposed agreement, local authorities will commission services which may have previously been funded by central government, such as those provided by third sector organisations. This will provide an opportunity for local service delivery organisations, including community planning partners and voluntary organisations, to build closer relationships with local commissioners and work together to meet the needs of the local community and deliver on the national outcomes.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, what arrangements and levers will be left to it to incentivise change in services toward particular client groups or areas of policy once ring-fenced funding ends.

John Swinney: Under the terms of the concordat where changes in service provision are required, such changes will be discussed and agreed jointly between the Scottish Government and local government.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, what role it sees for the Parliament and its committees in the monitoring of single outcome agreements.

John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-6637 on 12 December 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, what the separate funding streams are, what their value is and whom they affect.

John Swinney: Each of the continuing ring-fenced funding streams which are now part of the local government finance settlement were set out in the Scottish Government’s Finance Circular dated 13 December 2007. All other funding streams have now been absorbed within the annual settlements are not separately identifiable since they no longer exist. The funding provided will affect everyone living and working in Scotland.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, what commitments have to be delivered from within the funding envelope provided.

John Swinney: Local authorities will be expected to deliver on all the agreed set of national outcomes and specified set of commitments contained within the concordat. In return, the Scottish Government will adhere to its agreed commitments including the funding envelope and the substantial reduction in the number of separate funding streams.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, whether it intends to monitor whether local government meets its efficiency targets or makes any efficiency improvements; who will monitor such efficiencies; how this will be done; how frequently it will be done; how reports on the monitoring will be made, and to whom such reports will be made.

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, how it will monitor and assess whether local authorities individually or collectively are meeting their 2% per annum efficiency target.

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, how efficiency savings will be reported and when this will be done.

John Swinney: Local authorities will report annually through COSLA on local government’s progress in identifying the 2% efficiency gains. COSLA will provide the Scottish Government with this information which will be included in the Efficiency Outturn Reports to be published each autumn. Local authority efficiency statements will be available for Audit Scotland to audit, and there will be further discussion with COSLA in January on refining the mechanics of the reporting process.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, what the estimated non-domestic rate income is for each year of the three-year period.

John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-6457 on 6 December 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, what provision it has allowed for the tax liability of small businesses.

John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-6576 on 29 November 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, how much a 1p increase in the non-domestic rate poundage generates.

John Swinney: According to our latest estimates, an increase of 1p in the non-domestic rate poundage is estimated to generate additional non-domestic rate income of around £44 million in 2008-09.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when the next revaluation of non-domestic rates in Scotland and England will take place.

John Swinney: I can confirm that the next non-domestic rates revaluation in Scotland and in England and Wales is expected to take effect from 1 April 2010.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, whether it will provide funds to maintain parity with the English non-domestic rate poundage.

John Swinney: As outlined in our Government Economic Strategy, we shall take action to ensure that the business poundage rate in Scotland will not rise above England’s during the lifetime of the 2007-11 Parliament. I expect to be in a position to announce the poundage rate for 2008-09 shortly.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, how many councils will need to freeze council tax for the "entire package to remain intact".

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, whether the reference to the "entire package to remain intact" means a commitment from COSLA or from each council to freeze council tax in each of the coming three years.

John Swinney: Under the package of measures available I expect all councils to deliver on all aspects of the agreed concordat, including the council tax freeze. It is, of course, the responsibility of each local authority to set its own council tax.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, whether the definition of a freeze in council tax includes any increases above inflation, previously agreed by councils to help to fund new schools over and above other planned increases, that will now have to be met from resources available to freeze council tax.

John Swinney: Under the terms of the package of measures provided by the Scottish Government it is expected that all councils will freeze their council tax at 2007-08 levels.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, whether those councils that agreed to help fund new schools from additional increases in council tax will receive additional funds above those intended to freeze council tax so that they can maintain their commitment to fund new schools and freeze council tax without having to make additional efficiency savings to achieve a council tax freeze.

John Swinney: Under the terms of the package of measures provided by the Scottish Government it is expected that all councils will freeze their council tax at 2007-08 levels. The distribution of the local government finance settlement has been discussed with COSLA.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, whether the council tax freeze will constrain councils’ ability to use prudential borrowing.

John Swinney: Councils’ ability to borrow prudentially is governed by adherence to a set of prudential indicators, the main criteria being affordability. The package of measures available to local government, including a 15.5 per cent increase in support for capital, over the next three years should be sufficient to allow councils to meet their investment requirements without the need to increase council tax levels.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, what percentage of the £54 million to support recruitment of additional police officers will be for police pensions and whether it is subject to efficiency savings.

Kenny MacAskill: The £54 million will support the recruitment of 500 new officers, including their pension, training and salary costs, as well as opportunities for increased retention and projects to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of Scottish forces.

  Each police authority is responsible for financing the pensions of its former employees on a pay-as-you-go basis.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the additional capital allocation shown on page five of its concordat with COSLA refers to capital in addition to the capital fund for local authorities or is included in the total for that fund.

John Swinney: The additional capital allocation mentioned on page five of the concordat with COSLA is included within the total capital funding to be provided to local authorities.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, how long it will take to achieve the class size target if the target is funded only through the grant and school rolls fall.

Maureen Watt: We expect year-on-year progress to be made in reducing class sizes in primary 1 to primary 3 classes to a maximum of 18.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, whether the total capital fund includes an assumption of the continuation of the extra £40 million provided in the current year for school capital to meet class size reductions.

Maureen Watt: The £40 million referred to was a one-off addition to the Schools Fund capital grant in the current financial year. The total capital resources referred to in the concordat are to secure investment in local government infrastructure over the next three years, including in schools.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the specific arrangements are for local authorities to maintain teacher numbers in the face of falling school rolls, as referred to on page five of its concordat with COSLA.

Maureen Watt: The financial settlement agreed with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities provides sufficient funding to allow local authorities to broadly maintain current teacher numbers against a backdrop of falling school rolls.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, whether universities have the capacity to deliver the teachers required to meet class size reductions to 18 in primary 1 to primary 3 by 2011.

Maureen Watt: The concordat specifies that "year-on-year progress" be made on our class size commitment in the Spending Review period. The capacity of universities, the maintenance of the quality of new teachers and the capacity of the school system to deliver quality student placements are all factors that need to be taken into account in planning intakes to initial teacher education.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, whether it will meet any loss of non-domestic rate income for reasons other than its policy of reducing non-domestic rates.

John Swinney: The total funding that will be set out in Local Government Finance (Scotland) Order 2008, once approved by the Scottish Parliament, will be guaranteed. Any reduction in non-domestic rate income will be compensated for by an equal increase in revenue grant from the Scottish Government.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, whether there will be a process of prioritisation and bidding for schools.

Maureen Watt: Under the terms of the concordat and its resources authorities will plan investment in schools according to their own priorities. No government bidding process is involved.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, what the current provision is for prudential borrowing and capital grants.

John Swinney: The current provision for capital in 2007-08 is £860.4 million. This includes £305.2 million for supported borrowing. Local authorities are free to undertake additional self-financed prudential borrowing, subject to affordability.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, what the current baseline is and what new funding has moved into the new capital resource.

John Swinney: As per table 27.01 in the Scottish Budget: Spending Review 2007 document, the baseline for support for capital in 2007-08 is £860.4 million. All additional funding for each of the three forward years is as set out in the same table.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA and with reference to the paragraph which states "some further funding that will also go to local government but which is additional to these totals", what this further funding is, how much it is and in what years it will be available.

John Swinney: Future decisions on how much of any further funding that is to be provided to local government will be taken by the relevant Scottish Government minister and announced at the appropriate time over the course of the next three years.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, which the most likely candidates are to receive the further £0.2 billion of ring-fenced funds due to be rolled into the general revenue grant in future years, as set out on page three of the concordat.

John Swinney: The details of all the continuing ring-fenced funding were set out in the Scottish Government’s Local Government Finance Circular dated 13 December 2007.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, how the £0.5 billion set out on page three of the concordat relates to the £0.9 billion set out on page 73 of Scottish Budget: Spending Review 2007 .

John Swinney: The £0.5 billion mentioned on page three of the concordat represents the amount of continuing ring-fenced grants payable in 2008-09, excluding the amount of the Police Grant which the Scottish Government and COSLA have agreed should remain ring-fenced. The £0.9 million on page 73 of the Scottish Budget: Spending Review 2007 refers to the continuing ring-fenced grants that will remain in 2010-11, including the Police Grant figure.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, whether there will be a reduction in central monitoring of the £2.2 billion of currently ring-fenced funds that are rolled into general grant to local authorities.

John Swinney: The bureaucracy and central monitoring associated with the £1.6 billion of the £2.2 billion of grants that are to be rolled up into the local government finance settlement with effect from 2008-09 will be removed. In its place, progress and achievements towards the national outcomes and commitments will be monitored in accordance with the reporting and oversight arrangements as set out in the concordat. The remaining £0.6 billion relates to Police Grant and the central monitoring of this grant will continue as agreed between the Scottish Government and COSLA.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, whether the funding to be rolled into the local government finance settlement in 2008-09 from currently ring-fenced funds represents the total or a proportion of currently held centrally for allocation to local authorities and what the value is of any funds to be kept centrally in each case.

John Swinney: The 2007-08 baseline provision for all of the ring-fenced grants and funding streams as contained in table 27.01 of the Scottish Budget: Spending Review 2007  will be allocated in full to local authorities in each of the next three years.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, whether any of the funds to be rolled into the local government finance settlement in 2008-09 contain any part which has been intended for any organisation not part of the relevant local authority itself and, if so, what arrangements have been put in place to ensure that this continues in future.

John Swinney: Yes I can confirm that some of the rolled-up funding was previously provided to other organisations, either directly by central government or indirectly through local authorities. Under the agreement, local authorities will commission services which may have previously been funded by central government, such as those provided by third sector organisations. This will provide an opportunity for local service delivery organisations, including community planning partners and voluntary organisations, to build closer relationships with local commissioners and work together to meet the needs of the local community and deliver on the national outcomes.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, whether ring-fenced funds which are not currently distributed to every local authority, which have been distributed as part of decisions on a past bidding process, or which fund pilots or national campaigns will now be pooled and distributed by formula to all local authorities.

John Swinney: No. In the interests of stability, as agreed with COSLA, the distribution of all local authority funding will be distributed by using the most appropriate indicator. This will include updated distribution methodologies and indicators or matched to existing on-going commitments, if appropriate. Wherever possible individual local authorities will receive similar shares in the next three years as they were receiving in the current year.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, whether all distribution formulae currently used to distribute ring-fenced funding will be subject to review over coming months and years under the established arrangements for deciding grant aided expenditure distribution.

John Swinney: Yes. The distribution of local government funding is kept under constant review and consideration will be given to possible improvements to the current methodology. This will be part of the future discussions between the Scottish Government and COSLA as part of the oversight arrangements mentioned in the concordat.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, what increase is planned in local authority capital in (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2010-11.

John Swinney: As per Table 27.01 in the Scottish Budget: Spending Review 2007 document, the total capital funding for local authorities is £993 million in 2009-10, and £994 million in 2010-11. This reflects an increase of £133.4 million and £134.4 million, respectively, over current 2007-08 levels.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, what criteria were used to decide which funds were to be kept ring-fenced, showing the specific criteria used for each fund, and what criteria will determine future ring-fencing.

John Swinney: The question of whether a funding stream should remain ring-fenced was one of the many issues that were discussed, and agreed, between the Scottish Government and COSLA in agreeing the terms of the joint concordat. All of these funding streams were considered on a case-by-case basis against our joint aim of significantly reducing the number of ring-fenced grants and the associated bureaucracy.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, what funding will be made available in year two of the spending review period if no council tax freeze is agreed in that year.

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA and if no council tax deal is agreed in year two of the spending review period, whether local authorities will have to raise council tax by the rate of inflation for that year and for the previous year in order to protect local services.

John Swinney: I have made available £70 million of new resources to be allocated in each of the next three years to enable all councils to freeze their council tax at 2007-08 levels. These funds will be retained until each local authority has made its determination of its council tax levels for each of the next three years.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, whether, if one or more council does not freeze its council tax, the entire package will not remain intact.

John Swinney: Under the package of measures available I expect all councils to deliver on all aspects of the agreed concordat, including the council tax freeze. It is, of course, the responsibility of each local authority to set its own council tax. If a local authority does not accept all parts of the package on offer then that local authority will not receive all the benefits on offer.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, whether the capital grant fund is to fund any extra classrooms in order to meet progress toward class size reductions.

Maureen Watt: One of the components of the package set out in the concordat is that local authorities agree to deliver on a specified set of commitments from within the funding envelope provided. Reducing class sizes in P1 to P3 to a maximum of 18 as quickly as possible is one such specified commitment.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, whether achieving size reduction in 10% of classes in primaries 1, 2 or 3 would be regarded as progress toward delivery.

Maureen Watt: We expect year-on-year progress overall toward delivery of the class size reduction policy. We will discuss with each authority and agree the progress that is possible in each area.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, what sanctions it can use against any local authority failing to make year-on-year progress toward delivery of class size reductions.

Maureen Watt: The concordat makes clear that the commitment to reduce class sizes in P1 to P3 is one shared between the Scottish Government and local government.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, how much of the total capital grant available to local authorities it intends should be spent on major refurbishments of schools and new school buildings.

Maureen Watt: This will be a matter for individual local authorities to determine according to their own priorities.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, how it intends to monitor whether its commitment to match Labour’s school building plans "brick for brick" is achieved.

Maureen Watt: Our commitment was to match the planned school building programme that was in place prior to the election. To that end, three more schools PPP projects have been enabled to reach financial close since May and we will continue to monitor and work with other authorities concerning progress on their projects.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, whether it will provide details of the action it expects each local authority to take, and for what action the Executive will be responsible, in developing and delivering A Curriculum for Excellence.

Maureen Watt: The concordat makes clear that government and the local authorities will each do what it takes to develop and deliver Curriculum for Excellence. One of the 15 national outcomes which forms part of the concordat is to ensure that our young people are successful learners, confident individuals, effective contributors and responsible citizens. This will be the subject of discussion with COSLA and with the individual authorities.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, what its definition is of "as quickly as possible" in relation to reducing class sizes in primary 1 to primary 3.

Maureen Watt: This will vary depending on the circumstances of each local authority and what is agreed with the Scottish Government.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, whether it has specific agreement with COSLA on the meaning of "as quickly as possible" in relation to reducing class sizes.

Maureen Watt: What is meant by "as quickly as possible" will be set out in the agreement with individual councils.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, whether each local authority’s single outcome agreement will specify what is meant for the authority by "as quickly as possible" in relation to reducing class sizes.

Maureen Watt: This will be part of the agreement between each local authority and the Scottish Government.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, whether "as quickly as possible" in relation to reducing class sizes refers to each council individually or to local government as a whole.

Maureen Watt: We expect every local authority to make progress as quickly as possible in reducing primary 1 to primary 3 classes to a maximum of 18 pupils. It is recognised that the pace of implementation of class size reduction will vary across authorities depending on local circumstances and needs.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, who will assess whether councils are delivering "as quickly as possible" in relation to reducing class sizes and whether parents will have any role in this.

Maureen Watt: Each council’s agreed rate of progress will be set out and reported on annually to ministers. These annual reports will be public documents.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, whether it accepts that removing ring-fenced funding may mean that funds previously guaranteed to support particular client groups may now be redeployed by local authorities for other purposes and to meet funding pressures in other areas of activity.

John Swinney: Under the terms of the concordat, it is the responsibility of each local authority to allocate the total financial resources available to it on the basis of local needs and priorities having first fulfilled its statutory obligations and the agreed set of national outcomes, including the Scottish Government’s key strategic objectives and the full terms of the concordat.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, whether it has no means of intervening and will not intervene in the actions of local authorities to redeploy funds previously directed to particular client groups.

John Swinney: Under the terms of the concordat, it is the responsibility of each local authority to allocate the total financial resources available to it on the basis of local needs and priorities having first fulfilled its statutory obligations and the agreed set of national outcomes, including the Scottish Government’s key strategic objectives and the full terms of the concordat.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, whether it sees a role for the Parliament and its committees in oversight arrangements to manage and monitor the concordat.

John Swinney: I refer the member to the answers to questions S3W-6578 and S3W-6660 on 12 December 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, whether it has any targets for the number of additional skills for work courses that it wants to be made available in the next three years.

Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government and local government are working in partnership with colleges, local employers and others as appropriate to give more school pupils opportunities to experience vocational learning.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, whether it accepts that there may be variations between local authorities in the number and breadth of skills for work and other vocational courses that local authorities might make available and whether there is any limit to the level of variation that it will accept.

Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government and COSLA are committed, through the concordat, to provide more school pupils with opportunities to experience vocational learning. It is for each local authority to determine, on the basis of local needs, how best to deliver that commitment.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, how many more pupils it would like to benefit from vocational learning in (a) 2008-09, (b) 2009-10 and (c) 2010-11.

Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government and COSLA are committed, through the concordat, to provide more school pupils with opportunities to experience vocational learning. We have not imposed specific targets, rather it is for each local authority to determine, on the basis of local needs and priorities, how best to deliver that commitment.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, what "through care homes fees" means in the context of improving care home quality.

Shona Robison: To improve the quality of care within care homes, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities is working in partnership with the Care Commission and care providers to develop a model to link the level of fees paid to providers to the quality of care.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether efficiency savings will be removed from the baseline of all portfolios except local government.

John Swinney: Under the concordat, signed with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities on 14 November 2007, local authorities for the first time will be allowed to retain all of their efficiency savings to redeploy and meet on-going and new pressures. All other portfolios will have an element of their efficiency savings deducted at source.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, when each local authority will be assessed as to whether it is delivering reduction in class sizes "as quickly as possible".

Maureen Watt: There will be an agreement with every local authority that signs up to the concordat. We will receive annual reports on the progress that is being made from each local authority. The school census will also collect annual data on class sizes throughout Scotland.

NHS Finance

Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to implement the recommendations of the National Resource Allocation Committee in respect of NHS board funding and, if so, when it will do this.

Nicola Sturgeon: I am currently considering the NHSScotland Resource Allocation Committee’s report and the views submitted to me by the Health and Sport Committee and by health boards. I expect to make a decision based on the report, and all the comments I have received, early in the New Year.

  The earliest that any change could be introduced would be in relation to allocations for 2009-10. As I have already indicated, if I decide to make any adjustments to health boards’ relative funding, no board would receive less funding than it does at present. Any resultant changes would be phased in over a number of years as has been the practice under both the previous SHARE and Arbuthnott formulae.

NHS Finance

Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will ensure that the extra costs of providing health services in remote and rural areas are fully considered in any decisions on the future funding of NHS boards.

Nicola Sturgeon: Yes. I am currently considering the report of the NHSScotland Resource Allocation Committee which makes recommendations for changes to the Arbuthnott formula for funding allocations to NHS boards. I will give full consideration to all the representations that have been made to me, including those relating to the costs of providing health services in remote and rural areas.

NHS Staff

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many community psychiatric nurses specialising in alcohol addiction are employed by each NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: Specific information on community psychiatric nurses specialising in alcohol addiction is not centrally available.

  However, information on staff employed in NHSScotland is published on the Scottish Health Statistics website under Workforce Statistics at www.isdscotland.org/workforce.

  Section E gives details of Nursing and Midwifery staff. In particular tables E1 and E2 show the whole-time equivalent and head count of Community Psychiatric Nurses (CPNs) by NHS board and region, specialisation by CPNs is not recorded centrally however.

  Table E18 shows Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNSs) who specialise in Addictions and also in Alcohol by NHS board. These nurses are not necessarily CPNs.

  Latest available data is at 30 September 2005 for CPNs and at 30 September 2006 for CNSs.

NHS Staff

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many vacancies there are for radiographers in each NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: Information on staff employed in NHSScotland is published on the Scottish Health Statistics website under Workforce Statistics at www.isdscotland.org/workforce .

  Section F gives details of therapeutic, healthcare science, technical, pharmacy and ambulance staff. In particular table F8 shows the number of whole-time equivalent (WTE) radiographer vacancies by qualification and NHS board and also shows vacancies as a percentage of the establishment figure. Table F9 shows the same information but for vacancies of three months or more. WTE adjusts head count to take account of part-time working. Latest available is at 31 March 2007.

NHS Staff

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive why significant numbers of health care professionals are seeking reviews for mismatches between their job plans and national profiles despite Agenda for Change’s appraisal system.

Nicola Sturgeon: We have only recently started gathering data on review requests. Unfortunately, what is currently held centrally is not sufficiently detailed for me to provide a breakdown of the reasons why the reviews have been submitted.

  I would point out however that of the reviews processed to date, 14% have resulted in post holders being awarded a higher band, while in 85% of cases the initial job evaluation outcome has been found to be correct. 1% of cases have been re-directed to another more detailed job evaluation process and are currently under re-consideration.

  While the processing of review requests is at an early stage, the indications to date are that the Agenda for Change job evaluation system is in the main delivering what it was designed to do, namely fair, accurate and consistent job evaluation outcomes.

NHS Waiting Times

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting times are for access to radiography for (a) urgent and (b) non-urgent cases in each NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: The specific information requested is not available centrally. However, information gathered by NHS boards on waiting times for key diagnostic tests, including CT, MRI and Ultrasound scans and barium studies, indicates that on 30 September 2007, of a total of 22,994 patients waiting for these four tests, 14 had been waiting more than nine weeks for MRI scans and none had been waiting more than nine weeks for CT scans, barium studies or ultrasound scans.

Police

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the ratio is of all police officers to population in (a) the Northern Constabulary area and (b) all other force areas.

Kenny MacAskill: The total number of police officers, and the number of officers per 100,000 population for each force, as at 31 March 2007, is shown in the following table.

  

 Police Force
 Total Number of Police Officers (Whole-Time Equivalent)
 Total Police Officers per 100,000 Population


 Central Scotland Police
 828
 289


 Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary
 497
 336


 Fife Constabulary
 1,059
 295


 Grampian Police
 1,374
 259


 Lothian and Borders Police
 2,793
 306


 Northern Constabulary
 707
 250


 Strathclyde Police
 7,822
 354


 Tayside Police
 1,154
 295


 Scotland
 16,234
 317



  Source: Police Quarterly Strength Returns to the Scottish Government.

Police

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the ratio is of police constables to population in each force area.

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the ratio is of promoted police officers to population in each force area.

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the ratio is of promoted police officers to constables in each force area.

Kenny MacAskill: The estimated number of police constables and promoted police officers per 100,000 population, and the percentage of police officers who are police constables is shown, as at 31 March 2007, for each force in the following table.

  

 Police Force
Police Constables per 100,000 Population(Whole-Time Equivalent)
Promoted Police Officers per 100,000 Population(Whole-Time Equivalent)
 Percentage of Police Officers of Promoted Ranks


 Central Scotland Police
 209
 80
 27.7%


 Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary
 249
 87
 25.9%


 Fife Constabulary
 225
 70
 23.8%


 Grampian Police
 189
 70
 27.1%


 Lothian and Borders Police
 234
 72
 23.5%


 Northern Constabulary
 187
 62
 25.0%


 Strathclyde Police
 273
 82
 23.1%


 Tayside Police
 232
 62
 21.2%


 Scotland
 242
 76
 23.8%



  Source: Police Quarterly Strength Returns to the Scottish Government, and Annual Statistical Returns to HMIC.

Correction

The reply to question S3W-5499 which was originally answered on 5 November 2007, has been corrected: see page 1850 or http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/pqa/wa-07/wa1210.htm.

  The reply to question S3W-1919 which was originally answered on 19 July 2007, has been corrected: see page 1873 or http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/pqa/wa-07/wa1211.htm.